S'thesha Waya Waya initiative puts food on the table

The promise to end unemployment, poverty and inequality in KwaZulu-Natal has been given a boost with the province's revitalised S’thesha Waya Waya initiative | Image: SANews.gov.za on Facebook

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Bongi Sithole-Moloi, handed over contracts to the beneficiaries of the Community Work Programme (CWP), as part of government’s S’thesha Waya Waya (meaning working throughout), recently.

The balance of the contracts will be served later to make 17,000 employees in total so far.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony held at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg, Dube-Ncube said the programme has changed lives by placing food on tables.

“The workers are all deployed in all municipalities doing road maintenance, cleaning and gardening. About 2,000 have already received their signed contracts and their work tools in a symbolic demonstration of the dawning of a new chapter in their lives,” Dube-Ncube said.

Under the Community Work Programme, located in the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the province has pledged to employ 45,000 individuals but the figure has been exceeded with the absorption of 48,000 employees.

Sithole-Moloi said the overarching goal of the province is to eliminate unemployment across all districts and, working with the Department of Labour, all participants will be properly registered and entitled to benefits including the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

“We stand committed to delivering on the promises outlined during the presentation of our budget policy early this year. We urge all the beneficiaries to take advantage of training opportunities that will enhance their skills to broaden their prospects for future roles and to use the S’thesha Waya Waya programme as reference when applying for other job in future," she said.

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eMisebenzi/e-Recruitment Portal

The Premier used the occasion to officially launch the eMisebenzi/e-Recruitment Portal, an online jobs platform that consolidates all provincial government vacant job opportunities, including the state-owned agencies.

The online platform, which is accessible to the public from any location, has a multitude of job opportunities.

During the launch, over 2,000 permanent jobs from various departments were made available on the platform which is accessed via the www.kznonline.gov.za.

The Premier demonstrated how applicants can submit their applications without using their data, and encouraged job seekers to apply for job openings they qualify for through the user-friendly online portal.

Since the opening of the portal last week, about 100,000 applications have already been received, with over 2,100 posts deposited during the launch.

“As we stated during the State of the Province Address and subsequent Budget Votes, job opportunities for young people and mass employment for all has been identified as one of the key priorities of our term [and] government has a critical role to intervene on behalf of the vulnerable especially in times of crisis.

“Having identified jobs as a priority, the province established a Jobs War Room which has now facilitated over 500,000 job opportunities, especially through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) across sectors in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Through the departmental programmes in the 2022/23 financial year, 89,297 jobs were created, and over 292,248 jobs will be created in the 2023/24 financial year,” Dube-Ncube said.